Saturday, April 27, 2013

I just finished my 6th half marathon! The accomplishment of it never gets old for me, especially this time being pregnant. It was the coldest and wettest half that I have ever run, but it was amazing to finish it. My mom, sister and I all met at my brother's house before to get ready and get some pictures. I had to be up at 4:00 and out the door at 4:45, so it was an early morning.

Before the race, I thought about leaving my jacket and decided against it at the last minute. I'm so glad that I had it. I was pretty much soaked by mile 3, and had water squishing in between my toes every time I landed. At mile 3.5, I had to use the bathroom for the first time. It was one of 4 times that I had to stop. I've never had to stop during a race before and I actually spent close to 20 minutes standing in line between the 4 stops. Whenever I would stop, my knees would start throbbing. I also had a good amount of pelvic pressure the entire time which I think was to be expected.

By mile 10 I was done and tired. I was about ready to start walking when I saw my brother and his friend at mile 11. They ran the last 2 miles with me which was absolutely awesome and just what I needed. As I neared the finish line, I heard my dad call out out my name. I was so excited to see him! Then I saw Marsh and the boys. I stopped to give them all a kiss before I crossed the finish line. My time this year was 50 minutes slower than last year, which I totally expected. Between all of my bathroom breaks, I averaged about a 13 minute mile. Without bathroom breaks, it was about 11:45 minute miles, which is a lot slower than my usual, but I'm pretty darn proud of that at 22 weeks pregnant.

I've decided I'm going to start tapering off with my running and really I'm being forced to do so. I've got tendonitis in my right foot and have had a lot of pain in it this week. I've had to take it easy, but I'm trying to continue to be active by doing yoga and low impact exercises. After I have the baby, I'm going to be training to improve on my half and marathon times. My friend asked if I was interested in running the Ogden marathon (full) next May. I'm all for it, but I want to improve upon my time. :)

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Today I had a meeting with Rowan's preschool teacher, principal and speech therapist. It was to discuss his IEP and plans for Kindergarten. His teacher said he is very smart. He knows his letters, is sounding out words and has great fine motor skills. He can write his name and has made huge progress since I wrote this delayed post a year and a half ago. The part where she was concerned is that he has a hard time focusing and he still struggles in some areas where we've set goals. She thinks if we were to mainstream him completely, that it might be to his disadvantage.

We decided that we are going to put him in small group kindergarten and mainstream him as they see fit. So basically he will go to his small group kindergarten and then will go to the mainstream classroom different times throughout the day with a teacher aide. He will go to the mainstream classroom more or less depending on how he does. He will start out primarily in the small group class though. The small group classes have less than 13 kids, this year they had 9. I really feel like this is the best avenue for Rowan and have to say how thankful I am to have early intervention. Having a child with delays has had it's challenges. It's been challenging to me as a mom try not to compare my child to other kids his age. It's also been frustrating with communication and there have been times that I've envied moms who have kids that talk at 2, or even right before they turn 3. I've never known that.

I think Heavenly Father knew that I needed to learn patience and unconditional love, so he gave me Rowan. I've learned love with both of my boys, but Rowan has taught me more than he'll ever know. He's such an amazing and beautiful little boy. He's my cuddle bug first thing in the morning, loves Transformers and imaginative play. He's healthy and active and perfect in his own way. I'm grateful for early intervention, that Heavenly Father answers prayers, and to live in one of the best school districts in the state. His teacher, teacher's aides, principal, speech therapist and bus drivers have all been wonderful to work with. I feel like they love my child and he loves going to school to see his teachers and friends. This does mean Rowan will go to a different school than Chandler, but I think Rowan will be bused. Hopefully their schedules don't clash too much with each other.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

I wasn't around for much of the Easter weekend this year, it was mostly Marsh and the boys. I had to work 12 hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday. The week before, we got the boys new bikes. We didn't bring them from the Easter Bunny because we don't want them to have certain expectations every year. So instead, we gave them the bikes early from mom & dad. The boys were thrilled and have had so much fun with their new bikes. I will have to get a picture of them on the bikes.

The Easter Bunny came to our house on Saturday. Chan & Rowan left juice boxes and carrots out for him as well as a note that Chandler had written. The Easter Bunny filled their baskets with treats and small toys.

When they woke up, they also discovered he had hidden eggs around the house. Later that day, Marshall took the boys to the Easter Egg hunt at a local park. Marsh said it was crazy and very unorganized. Tons of parents were frantically looking for their kids. He wouldn't take them again.

Easter Sunday, I made Marsh promise to get some pictures of the boys in their new Easter outfits. This was the best one of the two of them together.

I love this shot of Chandler.

Needless to say from the following pictures, Rowan wasn't in the picture taking mood. When I was going through the shot Marsh took, all of them looked like this....